The gifts of nature are plentiful, but if given only a single plant to choose from to improve my skin, my mood, and my digestive health I would choose the rose. Sweet, delicate, and fragrant, rose imparts the essence of gentleness; it is the soul of the rose.

Roses have been cultivated for millennia and used not only for their beauty as an ornamental garden plant,

The business of preserving has been around for thousands of years. Methods were often stumbled upon without scientific knowledge of exactly why such things as silver platters, silverware, copper pots, and clay basins prevented food from spoiling.

To consider the use of various methods of preserving, it helps to begin with an understanding of why we preserve. What is it that causes food, water, lotions, and other products to require a form of preservative to ensure they are safe and uncontaminated for longer use?

Shea butter has become quite the craze and can be found in all-natural skin care products as well as those with pesky long-listed labels with chemical ingredients that seem to be counterintuitive to healing the skin. But what is it about shea butter that makes it such a popular ingredient in all-natural lotions? The answer may come by way of understanding a little more about the shea tree itself, in all its glory.

Gifting us with healing properties not only within the kernel of the shea nut,